Dissent TodaySpeaking truth to power

ISLAMABAD - Civic freedoms in Pakistan have deteriorated amid a widening crackdown on activists, journalists and political opponents, according to a new report by CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organizations. The report releasted last month documents "intimidation, harassment and persecution" of human rights defenders, along with restrictions on protests and the use of counter-terrorism and digital laws to criminalise dissent. It rates Pakistan’s civic space as "repressed," the second-worst category, citing a pattern of escalating state controls on expression and assembly. "Since coming to power, the Shehbaz Sharif government has...

Last week, a trial court in Islamabad convicted human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha under Pakistan's highly controversial cybercrime law, known as the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA). The convictions against the husband-wife duo stem...

Last week, a trial court in Islamabad convicted human rights lawyers Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and Hadi Ali Chattha under Pakistan's highly controversial cybercrime law,...

My daughter, a human rights lawyer, and her husband are currently on trial in Pakistan under cybercrime charges for exercising what should be a...

This report is part of Dissent Today’s special series documenting violence and alleged irregularities during Pakistan’s 2024 general elections.  Balochistan, which is Pakistan's largest province, is ironically its poorest. It remains a hotbed of violence and discontent. On the eve of Election Day on February 8, 2024, two bomb blasts...

بلوچ وائس فار جسٹس نے تربت میں بالاچ بلوچ سمیت چار نوجوانوں کو جعلی مقابلے میں ماورائے عدالت قتل کرنے سمیت حالیہ واقعات کے حوالے سے اقوام متحدہ کے خصوصی نمائندے، ایمنسٹی انٹرنیشنل اور یورپی پارلیمنٹ کو خطوط لکھ کر جعلی مقابلے جیسے انسانیت سوز واقعات کی تدارک کے...